


Don’t cry, Snowman, don’t leave me this way.

by starbucks22



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Gay Remus Lupin, Gen, James Potter is a Good Friend, M/M, Sirius Black is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28302660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbucks22/pseuds/starbucks22
Summary: “Remus.”“I’m just overreacting, alright? Leave it alone!”“If you were ‘just overreacting,’” James cut in again, speaking slowly, and sounding a lot more serious than he ever does. “Then you wouldn’t have been so anxious to show us the messages in the first place.”OR:Remus Lupin has just entered a new relationship with a guy that people are warning him against. Things quickly get a bit suspicious, but Remus thinks it’s nothing unreasonable. His friends, however, think a lot differently.
Relationships: Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & James Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Don’t cry, Snowman, don’t leave me this way.

**Author's Note:**

> if there’s snow can I count as Christmas

“It’s only been a few days, Sirius. I’m probably just overreacting, or maybe you are. It’s really not that big of a deal. You have to give him more of a chance!”

Remus Lupin is sitting down at one of his best friends’ kitchen table, sipping on a steaming cup full of hot cocoa. Marshmellows spill out from the brim of the cup, just narrowly avoiding hitting Remus as they fall around the kitchen table. Snow is blowing all around outside, falling down and down in such a rapid succession that it looks like rain is upon them.

“I think a blizzard is coming,” James Potter says, entering his kitchen. His hair is in an even worse state of disarray than it usually is, his glasses are slightly eschew, and the red and white Santa hat he’s wearing is just pure white now. Snow is covering him from head to toe. “And I think we’re just about due for a white Christmas.”

“I think that’s a bit obvious Prongs,” Sirius Black, sitting beside Remus, whom he had been about to bicker with, snorts. He looks his brother/best mate up and down. Some snow falls off of the other man’s shoulder. 

“Aw, hell,” James sighs, and doesn’t move to clear it up. He shrugs and pulls out the chair that’s beside Sirius. “Oh well. I’m expecting Lils over later, by the way. Just letting you all know.”

“Kinda figured. She’s your girlfriend after all.”

“And this is your house, so it’s your decision,” agrees Remus, calmly. Unfortunately, this is a mistake.

“Right, I forgot I’m not done with you,” Sirius says, swiveling around to face Remus more directly. James raises an eyebrow, but they both ignore him. “Remus. What the fuck are you thinking?”

“What the fuck are  _ you  _ thinking?” he repeats, then goes back to sipping at his cocoa. 

“That guy is toxic. You can’t just stay with him.”

“He’s not  toxic.  Good gosh, you make him seem horrible.”

“He is horrible!”

“He is not. He’s not a saint, but he’s not the devil either.”

“What are we even talking about?” James asks them, not really expecting an answer with how agitated Sirius is slowly becoming. Surprisingly, he gets one. 

Sirius looks at him. “Remus’ boyfriend is a guilt tripping dick and I think that Remus is in an unhealthy relationship.”

“I am  not!”

“Shhhh, Remus.” He returns to talking with James. “Okay, so someone anonymously told him that his boy is bad news. More specifically, they called him out by his  _ full name  _ and accused him of being both creepy and could be aggressive. AKA: bad news.”

“Okay...” Remus slides James a cup of cocoa. James starts chugging it. “Continue.” 

“So, Remus let his boyfriend know that someone is talking about him like that. A nice little heads up in case it isn’t true, you know?”

“Right, that makes sense.”

“So, guess what his boyfriend texted him later and said?”

“This really isn’t necessary, my relationship isn’t toxic, or unhealthy, or– or anything like that. He loves me! Do you know just how  much  he got for me for Christmas the other day?” Remus, somewhat wearily, tries to protest. 

“Okay, so you’ll have no problems in showing James, Peter, and Lily the texts you got about it, then?”

Remus pauses. He’s stuck. He just reasoned himself into a corner. 

If he says yes, he does have an issue with that, he almost instantly risks making James suspicious (which always makes him nosy), but if he says no, he doesn’t have a problem, he has to show the texts to his concerned friends. 

And he  knows  they’ll make a big deal out of it.

“I want to ask how Padfoot even knows about it when the rest of us don’t, but I’ll refrain,” James says. He’s staring at Remus, as is Sirius. Sirius’ gaze is much more intense, though.

Remus, under the watchful, protective eyes, gives in and slides his phone across the table. James snatches it with ease. 

“Oh, I’m already seeing a problem,” he says, scrolling through Remus’ texts.

“Which says something, because you’re blind as a bat,” Sirius offhandedly comments.  


  
  
His brother slaps him and continues reading. After a few minutes, he asks, “Mind if I read this one out loud?”

Remus shrugs. He’s this far in already, so why not? It’s just himself, Sirius, and James, and Sirius already knows everything. “Yeah, if you want to.”

_ “ I’m a little worried that you might take what someone else’s said and leave me. Whatever I said or did is old me. And whatever happened with me is in the past. I guess I can’t ever be happy because every time I find a boyfriend someone always finds a way to mess it up for me.” _

“Not a strong start, is it?” Sirius asks, sounding sarcastic. “That’s not all.”

“After that, I got a call from one of our old classmates, of all the people, saying that the anonymous message I got has merit to it, and that he acted like that when our classmate was talking to him, just as friends. The whole nine yards– the texts about how much he’s attached to me, the sort of texts y’all are suspicious over, the clinginess, the smothering me in affection, the claims to stop drinking for me– I was told that someone else got that just while they were friends. Sirius over here got rather suspicious over that, though; he figured if two different people are warning me, then I should be a bit more cautious about it,” Remus informs James. 

“On top of that, that’s not even the last of the texts. It gets worse.” Sirius shoots Remus a pointed look, daring him to disagree with what he feels is such an obvious statement. He can’t even argue that one, though. 

“You can continue, James,” is what he says instead.

James does.

“It looks here that Remus confronted him about... black magic. Black magic.” He stares down at the phone with a furrowed brow. “Well there you go, there’s yet another red flag. Anyway.” He shakes his head. “Past that. Remus has a text that says:  “ _You are the only person I have left. Whatever people say just please don’t leave. don’t let people mess up our relationship. a lot of people here don’t like me because of some reason they can’t grow up and change.”_ Then, before that, when Remus confronted him in the first place: _“Like people need to get over it that was old me whatever I did I’m not like weird or what not anymore.”_ James looks pretty dumbfounded by this point. 

“Keep reading.”

James does, for a little while. 

Eventually, it gets to be so much that he has to stop.

“Bullying. This man says that he used... black magic... because he was bullied. That was it. That was the reason. Then he pulled the whole ‘you are the only person I have whatever people say just please don’t leave me.’ card.  That,”  he spits, “Is manipulation at its finest. That is guilt tripping you. And that’s all excluding the black magic portion of it. Then that’s also ignoring the sudden influx of sweet messages about how ‘attached’ he already is to you. What am I supposed to make of that? That isn’t exactly a healthy relationship, Remus!”

“No no no. It’s just– he struggles, sometimes. And I don’t need to make things worse on him by questioning my entire,  _only days old,_ relationship with a really nice guy just because a few people don’t like him.”

“And you’d be right, if that was the only problem. It’s only been days, and he’s pulling this on you already. It’s unhealthy. It’s toxic. You need to  leave it.”  Sirius pauses for a second, perhaps for maximum effect. Perhaps just to clear his head for a moment. He reaches to the person nearest to him- which is Remus- and grabs for his hand. “Look at me, Remus. You need to get out of this, okay?”

“It’s– it’s not that bad! I just feel a bit guilty sometimes from it all, that’s it. It’s not like he... does anything worse to me.”

“And I’m glad that he doesn’t, but you need to listen to me.”

“I am! You’re not listening to me!”

“ Remus. ”

“I’m just overreacting,  alright? Leave it alone!”

“If you were ‘just overreacting,’” James cut in again, speaking slowly, and sounding a lot more serious than he ever does. “Then you wouldn’t have been so anxious to show us the messages in the first place.”

Remus seems to deflate at that. He’s long since abandoned his cocoa; when he starts drinking it again, it’s gone cold. “I can handle it. Usually, he’s great. Not all... guilt trippy. It’s just that every once and a while. Every few days or so? Sometimes weeks.”

“Maybe so, but you don’t deserve to be in a relationship where you feel guilty for daring to have questions and doubts. You don’t deserve to feel like that at all. Whatever he says, whatever he’s all guilt tripping about, that’s not your fault. Do you hear me?”

“I hear you, James.”

Determinedly, James only repeats himself.

“ _ It is not your fault.” _

“Please,” Sirius begins, drawing the two’s attention back on him. “At least consider walking away.”

Remus nods. “I’ll consider it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so. I didn’t mark this as “Unhealthy relationship” or “toxic relationship” because I, like Remus, am still trying to figure that out.
> 
> (I just have a bit less denial than he does here; lmao)


End file.
